"Circuit Court Nominees In The Trump Administration: A Nationwide Round-Up; Names, names, and more names, for federal judgeships around the country." David Lat has this post at "Above the Law."Posted at 11:18 PM by Howard Bashman

Monday, May 1, 2017

"Supreme Court to Explore Power of Congress to Affect Lawsuits; Separation of powers between branches is at issue": Todd Ruger of Roll Call has this report.Posted at 10:20 PM by Howard Bashman

"Split 5th Circ. Denies Bass Pro Discrimination Rehearing Bid": Matthew Perlman of Law360.com has an article (subscription required for full access) that begins, "Bass Pro Outdoor World's bid for a rehearing of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's suit alleging the retailer discriminated against minorities when hiring was denied Friday after the Fifth Circuit split evenly over the issue in a poll."

"Gorsuch, in Sign of Independence, Is Out of Supreme Court's Clerical Pool": Adam Liptak of The New York Times has an article that begins, "In an early sign of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch's independence and work ethic, he has decided not to join a labor pool at the Supreme Court in which justices share their law clerks in an effort to streamline decisions about which cases to hear."Posted at 06:03 PM by Howard Bashman

"Pa. Appeals Court Deadlocks On $21M Bad Faith Award": Dan Packel of Law360.com has this report (subscription required for full access) in which I am quoted.Posted at 04:08 PM by Howard Bashman

Monday, May 1, 2017

"The Myth of the Neutral Expert: In the context of a capital trial, is there any such thing?" Slate has posted online this new installment of its "Amicus" podcast featuring Dahlia Lithwick.Posted at 03:42 PM by Howard Bashman

Monday, May 1, 2017

"How Slow Pace of Justice Is Harmful: Texas Edition." Online at Bloomberg View, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay that begins, "What if the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark abortion rights ruling -- and nothing changed?"Posted at 03:39 PM by Howard Bashman

As a result, the case has been scheduled for panel reargument in Philadelphia on October 10, 2017. Because there are numerous other Pa. Superior Court panels that are scheduled to hear oral arguments in Harrisburg and Philadelphia between now and October, my best guess is that the October 10th panel will consist of the two non-recused judges from the current panel and a third, yet-to-be-disclosed judge who is already assigned to sit on that panel.

The judge who recused himself made absolutely the right call, as he had not until the eve of oral argument focused on the fact -- due to being extremely busy with other work -- that the insurance company-defendant that was seeking to overturn a large judgment against it in this matter was the same insurance company at which his daughter was employed.

I have been working as an appellate attorney in Pennsylvania for more than 25 years, and this is the first time an appeal I have worked on has had to be reargued due to the inability of the original panel to reach a decision.Posted at 01:44 PM by Howard Bashman

2. And Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court in Bank of America Corp. v. Miami, No. 15-1111. Justice Clarence Thomas issued an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined. Justice Gorsuch did not participate in the ruling. You can access the oral argument via this link.

"Judicial Confirmations Reached Historic Lows Under Obama": Aebra Coe of Law360.com has an article (subscription required for full access) that begins, "The U.S. Senate confirmed a smaller percentage of President Barack Obama's district and circuit court nominees during his eight years than any other two-term president going back to Harry S. Truman, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service."

"Trump to stick with conservative list for next Supreme Court pick": Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times has an article that begins, "President Trump will stick with the same list of potential nominees for the next Supreme Court vacancy, he told The Washington Times in an exclusive interview."Posted at 08:20 PM by Howard Bashman

"For Supreme Court, It's Decision Time: Key cases this term include one about redistricting and another on church-and-state " Brent Kendall of The Wall Street Journal has this report.Posted at 08:57 PM by Howard Bashman

"Justice Neil Gorsuch's Early Days Hint at an Energetic Role; Supreme Court's new guy interjects frequently and has occasional run-ins with colleagues": Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal have this report.